Bag opener



April 28, 1936. A. VORWERK 2,038,916

BAG OPENER Filed Deo. 4,v 1934 lNVENTOR ATTQRNEY Patented Apr. 28, 1936L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l BAG vOPENER Arthur Vorwerk, Lehighton,Pa. Application December 4, `1934, Serial No. 755,943

3 Claims.

packing house and from thence are delivered in such sealed packages tothe merchants. The

bags, which provide the containers for the ccmmodities, are stitchedalong the mouths thereof, such stitching being of a chain nature. Thecords providing the stitching are necessarily compressed tightly againstthe opposed sides or faces, as well as the ends of the bags, so that thecommodities cannot seep therethrough. An especially designed sewing orstitching mechanism is provided for sealing the bags and, as is wellknown in the art, one of the cords or threads is looped or formed withbights that pass laterally through both faces of the bag and thesebights are passed through the second or tying cord of the stitching. Thebags are of value even when the contents are removed therefrom and, ofcourse, to remove such contents it is necessary to withdraw thestitching. This cannot be easily accomplished even by the use of anordinary knife or the like and it is therefore the object of thisinvention to provide an implement which can be readily manipulated toloosen one of the loops provided between the bights of what may betermed the tying cord and thereafter sever at least two of the loops ofsuch cord and hold the severed end of one of such loops to permit theoperator to pull the second or holding cord to withdraw the same, andlater to withdraw the holding cord from the bag, and thereby 35 allowthe merchant or housewife to extract a desired amount of the commoditywithout inicting injury to the bag or the contents thereof.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an implement for thispurpose which is characterized by simplicity in construction, cheapnessto manufacture,- and thorough eiiiciency in practical use.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects which will appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the improvementalso resides in certain novel features of construction, combination, andoperative association of parts, one satisfactory embodiment of which isdisclosed by the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved implement;

Fig. 2 is a detailed elevation illustrating the 55 manner in which thepointed end of one oi the blades of the implement is inserted through aloop of a. tying cord to loosen the same;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the manner in which the teeth areinserted between the loops prior to the severing of such loops;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the strand ofone of the severed loops of the tying cord is held and the manner vinwhich the holding cord of the stitching is grasped and withdrawn fromthe bag by the 10 operator; and

Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective view looking toward the front or outerend of the implement.

A commodity holding bag is illustrated by the drawing and what I willterm the front face 15 thereof is indicated by the numeral I and therear face by the numeral 2. When the bag is illled with its commodityand properlyweighed,

a suitable stitching machine passes threads or cords transverselythrough the mouth thereof, 20 directly above the packed commodity, andproduces a chain stitch. The cord 3 that is arranged over the front lhas bights that pass laterally through the back 2 has the rounded orlooped ends of said bights engaged by the tying cord 25 of thestitching. Both the tying cord and the holding cord are drawn tightlyagainst the opposed faces I and 2 of the bag and have their ends, whichpass through the ends of the bag, coiled and knotted. The sealing cordsnecessa- 30 rily tightly hug the bag and the bights of the cord 3 areclosely related so that the liability of the commodity seeping throughthe bag is thus prevented. This affords a very effective seal for thebag but it is extremely diflicult for a merchant or a housewife to openthe seal without destroying the bag and without spilling and n wasting acertain amount of. the contents thereof. An ordinary knife or similarimplement has been unsuccessfully employed for this purpose but, and asdisclosed by the drawing, I have provided a very simple, cheap andeicient device for easily, quickly and positively assuring the removalof the sealing cord at any point throughout its length without injury tothe bag or the contents thereof, or the spilling and wasting of suchcontents.

As disclosed by the drawing, the improvement provides a pair of bladesand is of a scissor-like construction. Each of the blades has what Iwould term its inner end provided with a handle and the cross blades arepivotally connected. One of these blades, indicated by the numeral l, isof less length than the other blade, which is indicated by the numerals. The shorter made has its active edge, adjacent to the front endthereof, reduced to provide the same with a shoulder E. The second andlonger blade 5 has its end formed with an extension 1 which issubstantially V-shaped in plan and which provides a prong. Inward of theprong the blade 5 has its active edge formed with a notch B and directlyopposite the notch, and in a line with the inner wall thereof, there isa tooth 8. A second tooth l0, disposed directly opposite the tooth 9, isalso formed and extends from the said active edge of the blade 5. Theconfronting edges of these teeth 9 and I0 are sharpened and the activeedge of the blade 4, inward of the shoulder E, is bevelled to provide asharpened surface. 'I'he pointed end 1 of the blade 5 is desirable, butnot an absolute requirement, as the teeth 9 and I0 may be directlypassed through the loops.

In practice the implement is held in one hand of the operator and theprong l is inserted in the first two loops of the cord 3, from one endof the bag, to draw upon the said loop and loosen the same. Theimplement is now manipulated to bring its teeth 9 and i0 through the twoof the loosened loops of the said cord 3, and the operator, grasping thehandles of the implement, swings the blade 4 to cause the same to wipeover the blade 5, thus causing the sharpened teeth 9 and i0 to sever thementioned loops of the cord, and also bringing the end of the innersevered loop into the notch 8 of the blade 5 and also into frictionalcontact with the shoulder 6 on the blade 4. At least two of the loops ofthe cord, selected throughout the length of said cord are thus severed,and one end of the cord is held gripped by the shoulders on the blades.The operator may now pull the tying cord from the end opposite thegripped end of said cord, out of the bag and the size of the pouringopening in the mouth of the bag is, of course, determined by thearrangement of the severed and gripped cord with respect to the end ofthe bag from which the cut cord is pulled. Thus the bag may be providedwith large or small pouring openings, and obviously the sealing cord maybe entirely removed from the bag if desired. The necessity of holdingthe cord at one of the severed loops will, it is thought, be apparent,as were the cord not thus gripped and held, the entire cord could bedrawn from the bag. When the loops are thus severed and the desiredportion of the cord Withdrawn from the bag, the operator can lay theimplement aside, and employ both of his hands for lifting and tiltingthe bag to pour the desired quantity of its contents therefrom.

It is believed that the foregoing description, when read inconnectionwith the drawing, will fully and clearly set forth theconstruction and advantages of my improvement to those skilled in theart to which such inventions relate, but obviously I do not wish to berestricted to the precise details disclosed by such drawing, andtherefore hold myself entitled to make all such changes therefrom asfairly fall within the scope of what I claim.

I claim:

l. A means for severing chain stitching which provides the sealing meansfor a bag or the like to permit the withdrawal ofa length of suchstitching and to allord a pouring opening of a determined size at suchmouth of the bag; comprising an implement having two swingablyassoclated blades, spaced depending sharpened elements on one blade topass through and sever two or more of the loops of the chain stitchingand cooperating nat non-sharpened shoulders on the blades to engage withand grip the inner severed loop of the stitching when the blades areswung together.

2. An implement for the purpose s'et forth, comprising a pair ofscissor-like members, the blades of one of said members having closelyrelated depending teeth whose edges are sharpened, and both of theblades having flat non-sharpened shoulders at their outer ends designedfor coengagement when the blades are swung together and the shoulder onthe toothed blade extending from the toothed portion of said blade.

3. An implement for the purpose set forth, comprising a pair ofscissor-like members, the blade of one of said members, adjacent to theouter end thereof having a pair of closely related depending V-shapedteeth whose edges are sharpened, and the active edge of said bladeoutward of the teeth providing a non-sharpened shoulder, and the secondblade having its active edge notched at its outer end to provide anon-sharpened shoulder to co-act with the shoulder on the toothed blade,When the blades are in wiping engagement.

ARTHUR VORWERK.

